Courtesy of Cracked Racquets.
Another full weekend of college tennis brought us a few thrilling 4-3 upsets while several top teams defended their home turf as they prepare for ITA Indoors. Let’s waste no time and get right into the action.
LSU def. #17 Tulane 4-3
The LSU Tigers shocked the Tulane Green Wave on Friday in New Orleans. The Wave had been red hot after beating Florida State and Tennessee last weekend to advance to ITA Indoors.
LSU won a tight doubles point clinched on court-1 by Joey Thomas and Rafael Wagner.
TIGERS WIN! TIGERS WIN!
LSU improves to 5-1 on the season with a HUGE W against No. 17 Tulane, highlighted by Bhatnagar’s Court 3 clinch! #GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/Duu6nzg7Cl
— LSU Men’s Tennis (@LSUTennis) February 1, 2019
Luis Erlenbusch (42nd ranked) quickly tied the match with a 7-5 6-1 win over Wagner (114th ranked), but LSU freshman Boris Kozlov made it 2-1 Tigers via a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Dane Esses on court-4.
Akos Kotorman responded for the Wave with a straight set win on court-6 and then Tyler Schick (58th ranked) put the Wave ahead with a tight 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win on court-5 over Thomas. The Tigers then evened the match with Shane Monroe’s 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 dispatch of Ewan Moore on the top court.
Malik Bhatnagar proved to be the hero of the day for LSU, coming from 5-2 down in the third to clinch the match 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 on court-3 over Hamish Stewart.
Ole Miss def. #20 Oklahoma State 4-3
The Oklahoma State Cowboys were another victim of a 4-3 upset on their home courts.
Cotter Wilson and Fabian Fallert clinched the dubs point for the Rebels. Tim Sandkaulen quickly made it 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph on court-1.
The Cowboys then made it 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win by Luke Hammond on court-5 followed by a 7-6, 6-3 triumph by Atrur Dubinski on court-2.
Ole Miss takes down No. 20 Oklahoma State, 4-3! 😤
Tim and Karlo set up Fabi for the winning point! 🔴🔵#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/TsmDZeGdgp
— Ole Miss Men’s Tennis (@OleMissMTennis) February 2, 2019
Ole Miss pulled ahead via a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win by Karlo Kranic on court-4 over Maxim Tybar but Brady Draheim notted it at 3-3 with a straight-set win over Cotter Wilson on court-6.
With all eyes on court-3, Fallert sealed the upset via a 7-6(11), 6-2 win over Mathieu Scaglia.
Texas Tech def. #14 Texas A&M 4-3
Yet another ranked team went down 4-3 on Friday.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders clinched a straight-forward doubles point to go up 1-0, but A&M’s Barnaby Smith made it 1-1 with a straight set triumph on court-3.
Singles 6: Ribiero @TexasTechMTEN def Vedri @AggieMTEN 7-6,2-6,6-3 to clinch the 4-2 victory for Red Raiders pic.twitter.com/6qpcay2Cy3
— SMU Tennis (@SMU10scomplex) February 2, 2019
Texas Tech then went up 3-1 with straight-set wins by Bjorn Thomson over Noah Schachter on court-4 and Parker Wynn over Val Vacherot on court-2.
Juan Carlos Aguilar battled for A&M to earn a win 6-4 in the third on court-1, but Tech’s Franco Ribero secured the upset moments later 6-3 in the third over Alex Vedri on court-6.
A&M’s Austin Abbratt made it 4-3 after the match was already decided with an impressive 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(7) win on court-5.
#13 Notre Dame def. #9 Virginia 4-3
The Fighting Irish had to come from behind to defeat Virginia on Friday night in a valiant effort in South Bend.
Notre Dame won the doubles point but quickly went down 3-1 with straight-set wins by UVA’s Carl Soderlund, Henrik Wiersholm, and Gianni Ross on courts 2-4.
IRISH WIN!
Howells downs his opponent 6-4 in the final set to give the Irish the 4-3 comeback win!#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/dFhq2ynxK9
— NDMensTennis (@NDMensTennis) February 2, 2019
Guillermo Cabrera made it 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court-6 over Aswin Lizen and Alex Lebedev battled back to defeat Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 on court-1.
Will Howells sealed the deal for the Irish by beating Ryan Goetz 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on court-5.
Minnesota def. #19 Alabama 4-3
The Golden Gophers kept the 4-3 upset party going by winning on the road to defeat the Crimson Tide.
Eli Oglivy and Jackson Allen clinched a tight dubs point 7-6(5) on court-2 for the ‘Gophs and Marino Alpeza made it 2-0 with a straight-set win on court-4.
Down go the Tide 😎 #Gophers pic.twitter.com/BOi477SZYz
— Minnesota Men’s Tennis (@GopherMTennis) February 2, 2019
‘Bama then went ahead 3-2 with victories by Jeremy Gschwendtner, Edson Ortiz, and Patrick Kaukovalta but Oglivy won 6-4 in the third on 5 to make it 3-3.
Josip Krstanovic was the hero for Minnesota as he earned a huge win 6-4 in the third over Mazen Osama (24th ranked).
#2 Ohio State def. #9 Stanford 6-1
The Ohio State Buckeyes made it 4-0 rather quickly in a top-10 showdown in Columbus on Saturday.
The ‘Bucks won the dubs point and got quick wins by Martin Joyce, Alex Kobelt, and Hunter Tubert won courts 4-6.
FINAL: No. 2 Ohio State defeats No. 9 Stanford! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/x2U2Jdmbad
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) February 2, 2019
In a highly anticipated matchup on court-1, JJ Wolf (3rd ranked) topped Stanford’s Axel Geller (20th ranked) 7-5, 6-1.
William Genesen (103rd ranked) secured the only point of the day for the Card via a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Kyle Seelig (13th ranked).
#8 Texas def. #6 North Carolina 5-2
The Longhorns dismissed the Tar Heels with some clutch performances on Saturday.
After Texas won the dubs point, Simon Sondergaard evened it up by beating Rodrigo Banzer 6-2, 6-2 on court-6. Harrison Scott then upset Josh Peck (61st ranked) while Leo Telles upset Brian Cernoch (55th ranked) to make it 3-1.
Freshman Chih Chi Huang then came up big over the experienced Bo Boyden on court-5 to clinch the match 7-6(5) in the third set.
With the remaining matches being played out, Yuya Ito defeated Ben Sigouin 7-6(8) in the third on 2 while Will Blumberg defeated Christian Sigsgaard (4th ranked) 6-3 in the third on court-1.
#24 Michigan def. #18 Oklahoma 4-2
Michigan also had some clutch performances propel them to a solid home victory on Saturday.
The Sooners won a very close doubles point clinched by Spencer Papa and Jake Van Emburgh on court-1, but the Wolverines went up 2-1 with wins by Myles Schalet and Andrew Fenty on courts 2 and 3.
Maloney wins it for the Wolverines in the third set.
Michigan defeats No. 18 Oklahoma 4-2!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Qx6vYWLHNf
— Michigan Tennis (@umichtennis) February 3, 2019
Stefano Tsorotiotis then evened the match for OU by beating Gabe Tishman on court-5.
Mattias Siimar won a huge match 6-4 in the third over Papa on 1 and freshman Patrick Maloney clinched the match over Mason Beiler on court-6.
#1 Wake Forest def. #20 Oklahoma State 6-1
The weekend did not get much better for the Cowboys as they took a beating from the defending champs.
Alan Gadjiev and Julian Zlobinsky clinched a tight doubles point on court-2 after courts 1 and 3 split but the rest of the afternoon was all Wake.
DEACS CLINCH THE MATCH! Rrezart Cungu battles back in the second set to defeat Matthieu Scaglia 6-3, 6-4! #GoDeacs
1. Chrysochos 6-3, 6-0
2. Botzer 6-1, 6-6, 1-0
3. Efstathiou 6-2, 6-3
4. Cungu 6-3, 6-4
5. Solomon 3-6, 7-6, 0-1
6. Zlobinsky 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 pic.twitter.com/eezpRdMGaQ— Wake Men’s Tennis (@WakeMTennis) February 3, 2019
Defending singles champ Petros Chrysochos earned a quick 6-3, 6-0 win while freshman Melios Efstathiou earned a straight-set win on court-3.
Rrezart Cungu then clinched the win on court-4 over Mathieu Scaglia.
With the rest of the matches being played out, Luke Hammond picked up a point over Yuval Soloman via a 6-3, 6-7, 1-0(3) win.
#13 Notre Dame def. #14 Texas A&M 5-2
Notre Dame picked up another great win in South Bend on Sunday over the struggling Aggies.
ND won a quick dubs point and got singles wins from Guillermo Cabrera and Richard Ciamarra to get 3 points.
The Irish win with this double-match point from @Lebs_World!
Notre Dame leads 4-2 with court four still in action. #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/9pGRxiCVgc
— NDMensTennis (@NDMensTennis) February 3, 2019
A&M’s Hady Habib made his anticipated debut and beat Axel Nefve 6-2, 6-2 on court-3 to make it 3-1. Austin Abbratt added a 6-2, 6-4 triupmh on court-5 over Will Howells to give the Aggies their 2nd point.
Senior captain Alex Lebedev clinched the win over Juan Carlos Aguilar on court-1 7-6(1), 6-1.
#4 Florida def. #22 Florida State 4-1
The Gators took down the Seminoles at the USTA Facility broadcasted live on Tennis Channel on Saturday night.
Hey @GatorsMTN, how’s your first #CollegeMatchDay win at the USTA #NationalCampus feel?
Gators defeat ‘Noles 4-1. pic.twitter.com/hM3a8JsBZF
— USTA (@usta) February 3, 2019
In front of 1,240 fans, Florida won a quick dubs point clinched by Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice on court-3. Sam Riffice and Johannes Ingildsen added straight-set wins to make it 3-0 but FSU’s Rana-Roop Singh Bhullar came back to defeat Alfredo Perez on court-5 to make it 3-1.
Andy Andrade secured the match by beating Alex Knaff 6-4, 7-6(5) on court-2.
That wraps it up for this week. To read more updates from Cracked Racquets, head over to www.crackedracquets.com.
